


All That Glistens is Not Gold | Live Die Repeat/PJO AU

by DemigodOfAgni



Category: Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BAMF Annabeth Chase, BAMF Percy Jackson, Death, Demigods, F/M, Gen, Gore, Monsters, Multiple Deaths, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Percy Jackson is a Mess, Percy Jackson is also a bit of Jerk, Time - Freeform, Violence, War, Woops, another AU, another gODDAMN au, but he changes so its cool, lots of death, powers, time loops, we're going full-on Tom Cruise here, well at some point nobody dies haha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26945614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemigodOfAgni/pseuds/DemigodOfAgni
Summary: In the end, though, Percy knew it was all for nothing anyway.He'd tried his hardest, but it seemed like the Fates were just toying with him at this point, because, really, the tragedies kept piling up on each other.It's the 21st century, and the Ancient Greek Civilisation's hold on humanity hasn't loosened. It's normal to wake up one day, and head over to the Claiming Offices to receive the news that you're actually the child of a Greek god or goddess. Over half of the American population alone are demigods, anyway. It's all quite normal.Until the Titans, the predecessors of the gods, clawed back out of whatever of hell they were buried in. Until the Titans unleashed a horde of monsters and nightmares on humanity in hopes of destroying their opposition. Until the Titans realised that now was a better time to retain their hold on and to take over the mortal realm.And Percy Jackson found himself, quite literally, in the middle of it all.Lots of death and gore and suicides at some point. BEWARE.The story can also be found on Wattpad under the same title and username.
Relationships: Percy Jackson and Chiron, Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24





	1. The Integrity of Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Another AU. At least it isn't another Marvel fic, right?  
> *sweats nervously as I glance at the pile of growing Marvel fic ideas*
> 
> Anyway, I'm not here to talk about my sad life and irresponsible management skills. I'm here to give you another fanfic! A Percy Jackson AU! One that I have been thinking about non-stop! One that has been inspired by Tom Cruise's "Edge of Tomorrow" movie!!! How fun!
> 
> So, like, you should all know. Everyone dies. Literally. Everyone. I'm warning you, because they commit suicide (for advancement of the plot). If this is something that unsettles or triggers you, I suggest you don't read this book. But if you think you can handle this and the gore that comes with it, go for it! I'm with you every chapter of the tale!
> 
> Have fun, fellas!
> 
> (oh, and his face, I-- it's hilarious, come on)

* * *

— _CHAPTER ONE_ —  
 _THE INTEGRITY OF BLOOD_

> _New York Times, Paper No.71293 Article No.3_
> 
> _"What has been the start of a beautiful summer has now turned into the gloomiest of days. At 5:15 this morning, the US government had received word from the European Union of the dramatic fluctuations in continental weather systems that seemed to have originated in southern Europe. Ocean tides and seasonal fires have grown erratic and their patterns are assumed to be affected the Global Warming incidents._
> 
> _"Priests and weather nymphs have been consulted about these strange phenomena, to which they have all answered that these changes have originated from a much more primordial level."_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
//////////  
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_**JONAS BAKIRTZIS, ATHENS**  
"—live now at channel ERT2 Greece, we have nymph Myrrha at the scene of the  
c_ _atastrophic events unfolding at Mount Olympus. Myrrha, what can  
you tell us that's happening right now?"_

 _ **MYRRHA, THESSALY**  
"Jonas, we're picking up tremendous tectonic activity,   
ones that are unusual for a mountain like Olympus.   
__There are strong winds, possibly caused by the_ anemoi thuellai   
_spirits stirring up air currents, and—hold on, what? What?  
_ _Wait, Jonas, I don't think we can broadcast anymore—"_

 _**JONAS BAKIRTZIS, ATHENS** _ _  
"Myrrha? Myrrha, what's happening?"_

_**MYRRHA, THESSALY**  
"—the ground's shaking, I don't— I don't—   
it feels like a volcano, but we are nowhere near one, and—   
oh my gods!"_

_**JONAS BAKIRTZIS, ATHENS** _ _  
"Myrrha?! What—?"_

_**MYRRHA, THESSALY**  
"Olympus! Olympus, it's being torn apart!   
The whole mountainside has been blown apart!   
It's— it's— it's—"_

_**JONAS BAKIRTZIS, ATHENS** _ _  
"Calm down, get somewhere safe, get off air if you have to—"_

_**MYRRHA, THESSALY**  
"JONAS, THE TITANS HAVE DESTROYED MOUNT OLYMPUS!"_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
//////////  
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_**AMY STRUCKER, CNN REPORTER**  
"—the Titans are relentless in their pursuit to regain control over the world.  
Director Chiron, what are your plans for overcoming their attacks?"_

_**CHIRON, DIRECTOR OF DEMIGOD AFFAIRS**  
"Well, I only see one possible solution to save our world: destroying the Titans.  
One by one, we kill them off after we weaken them. Their army is impressive,  
yet an army is just chaos once its generals have been eliminated."_

_**AMY STRUCKER, CNN REPORTER**  
"So, what do you suppose we do? Create our own army   
to fight theirs?"_

_**CHIRON, DIRECTOR OF DEMIGOD AFFAIRS**  
"That appears to be the only viable method so far, no? We would need to equip  
defence and attack forces with weaponry forged from either Celestial Bronze or  
Imperial Gold alloys to even dent the Titans' forces. That much I can tell you from  
the first Titanomachy. The rest, I believe, is decided by the demigods who choose  
to fight this war."_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
//////////  
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

> _New York Times, Paper No.81893, Article No. 2_
> 
> _"Reports have come in from the battlefields at Greece today that the tide of the four-year-long war has been shifted. Young American demigoddess Annabeth Chase has taken to the siege on the city of Athens and has singlehandedly cleared the city of the Titans' forces._
> 
> _"Local Athenians have praised Chase as her mother's agent on their sacred land; locals now call her Athena's Godsent. Chase continues to take back land from the Titans' army, reinforcements coming in to stabilise the newly acquired land in this war._
> 
> _"If all warriors could fight like Annabeth Chase today, our victory in this war is not too far gone."_

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  
//////////  
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

_"Tonight, on CNN, we bring you the news of our status in the Second Titanomachy. The monsters along the western shores of Europe have been driven back to the Pillars of Hercules. We believe the remnant of the ancient hero Heracles has helped us ensure the monsters do not pass beyond the Pillars at this point in time._

_"We are at a standstill; the Titans have made no attempt of an attack for the past week. Defence forces now state their next objective is to take control of the Mediterranean Sea so they can deploy warships to advance in through southern Europe._

_"We now ask, how long can this war go on for? History has said the First Titanomachy lasted for ten long years; the defence force is now better equipped than before, but it seems to be the same for the Titans' army. Our only hope is that the final stretch of the battle comes along soon._

_"May the gods of Olympus bless us in our times of need."_

* * *

Percy groaned into his cereal for the fifth time that morning.

'Mum,' he grumbled as he swirled his spoon around the floating grains in his bowl, trying to ignore his younger sister's gurgles in the chair beside him, 'can we not go today? It's really unnecessary. We can go in another eight years; we still have time.'

His mother dropped her small pile of dishes into the sink to turn around and glare at him. 'Perseus Jackson,' she said slowly, 'I watched a satyr barrel into you, sending the both of you tumbling into the lake at Central Park. I spent the entire morning hovering over the spot you vanished into the water while screaming like a deranged ghoul with a one-year-old in her arms.'

She turned on the tap and submerged the small cups and bowls, coating them with soapy bubbles. 'And _then_ ,' she said, flicking her head to the side to get the silver-streaked brown strands of her hair out of her face, 'I see you pop back up out of the water _fifteen minutes_ after you fell in.'

Percy's sister Estelle cocked her head in an imitation of their mother. She grinned cheekily, colourful blobs of Froot Loops stuck in between her teeth, drool leaking from the corner of her mouth as she giggled, 'Felon.'

' _Fell in_ ,' Percy corrected, reaching over the table to grab a few napkins to wipe the spittle off Estelle's face. Then he shrugged at his mother's disbelieving look as he gulped down the last of the milk of his cereal. 'Mum, anyone would want to get out of the water,' he said, trying to defend himself.

'Yes, but someone would do it rather immediately, or they would sink to the bottom and drown. You did neither of them.'

Another shrug. 'Maybe I'm one of those people who like holding their breaths,' Percy suggested. 'I heard one guy could hold his breath for twenty-two minutes underwater. I could give him a run for his money. What do you think, Stella?' he asked his sister as he got out of his seat, who only snickered in reply as she tried to finish her Froot Loops. 'Do you think I can beat him in holding my breath?'

'Percy, please don't bring Estelle in this.' There was a tone that Percy hadn't heard in a while. His mother only used it for reprimanding him for really serious things. He was pretty sure the last time he heard that was when he trying to defend a poor Cyclops from a gang of Laistrygonian Giants and was about to get crushed underfoot.

It was a tone that could mean life or death in a world like theirs.

Which was, ironically, a lot more literate, because the people who went over to Europe were usually demigods, and they didn't have anything better to do other than dying.

'Percy,' his mother said softly, cleaning up the edges of the sink and washing her hands and sidling up to Percy as she slipped an arm around his shoulder. 'Percy, are you a demigod?'

Percy's shoulders tensed. 'Uh, no,' he scoffed. 'Why would I be? I'm just...I'm just the kid who got kicked out of schools frequently. I don't think that'd be enough proof to say that I'm a _demigod_ —'

'I'm not talking about that, baby,' his mother interrupted. 'I'm talking about this morning. I'm talking about that moment where you could have died but you didn't.' She took the empty cereal from Percy's hands and placed it aside.

'I'm not a demigod,' Percy said firmly, voice soft just so his mother could hear. 'I can't be. You and Paul aren't demigods, neither was Gabe, and neither were your parents. The Claiming Offices said so themselves: parents, kids, and grandkids are those most likely to be demigods. Great-grandkids and everyone beyond that don't get that kind of luck; they're just legacies.'

'I know, but...' His mother worried her lip between her teeth. 'I just want to make sure. I want to be prepared for it. And I don't care if you are a demigod or not, but—'

'Mum,' Percy interrupted. He gently eased himself out of his mother's half-hug, and as he moved towards the sink to grab himself a glass of water, he could see the slight hurt that flashed across her face. 'Mum,' Percy said again, 'I'm not a demigod. I hope I'm not one, anyway. I'm just a mortal with a very weird life. I'm sure there are other kids like me out there.'

Percy had tried. He had tried very hard to convince his mother that there was _no way_ he could be a demigod. That all the messiness of his life was just because they grew up in a world where the messiness _was_ normal. In fact, Percy was sure the only thing that would be weird was being in a world where none of _this_ ever existed.

How he craved to be in that world right now.

Sighing, Percy's mother just simply strode back towards the table where Estelle was still confined to by her highchair. His mother scooped up the one-year-old in her arms and stroked Estelle's salt-and-pepper hair, hair that was only a shade lighter than Percy's ebony-black dishevelled locks.

'We're still going,' his mother commented as she exited the small kitchen of their apartment. Percy groaned after her, to which she replied with, 'Think of this as a plague. We are all doing our part to figure out who is what and responding to whatever result we get.'

'When you put it like that, it sounds like we're trying to exterminate an entire race,' Percy mumbled. His mother patted him on the shoulder and told him to get ready while she cleaned up Estelle. Percy had no choice but to begrudgingly comply, since he inherited his mother's rebellious and stubborn streak, and being on the other end of that just made the impact of said characteristic all the more jarring.

Percy stepped through their relatively tiny apartment in Upper East Side, crossing his stepfather Paul's room to get to his own right beside it. They moved towards inner New York so that the cost of travel wouldn't be so high, and everything they did could be done in a short time; Paul actually worked in the same school Percy attended, and his mother could sometimes drop Estelle off at the day care that sat right beside their apartment complex whenever she needed to write.

Stomping into his room, Percy chose a rather bland outfit consisting of a cotton jacket, a blue shirt and some jeans, then proceeded to strip out of his current damp clothes, still wet from the unplanned swim earlier that morning. By the time he was done, his mother and Estelle had already changed and were waiting by the hallway.

His mother was checking her handbag when Percy shuffled up to her. She was taller than him by a fraction of an inch, which frustrated Percy to no end because he was five-foot twelve. The nerve his growth spurt had by limiting his potential.

'You ready?' asked his mother. Percy nodded. 'Paul won't be able to come today.'

'But it's a _Saturday_ ,' Percy huffed. 'What does he even do?'

'Something about a roll out,' she wondered. 'Olympus knows what kind of horrors he has to face when he's with the Department of Education.'

Percy could only nod as his mother shifted Estelle's weight onto her hip as she went to unlock their front door. Paul was...in Percy's opinion, not that bad of a guy. A solid dude, sure, a hell lot better than Gabe ever was.

Percy frowned at the thought of that man. How his mother ended up with a sorry excuse of a man like Gabe Ugliano both intrigued and horrified him to no end. He should have been thankful when that stray drakon turned up in Midtown Manhattan and paralysed Gabe with its stare because he had been too busy playing poker with his buddies.

A few minutes passed in silence as Percy followed his mother down the stairwell of their apartment complex. They headed for the garage, Percy's mother guiding them to their dark blue Camaro. His mother fished out the car keys from her pocket and unlocked the doors; she opened one of the doors at the back and leaned in to buckle Estelle into her booster seat while Percy climbed into the passenger's seat and waited.

No more than a few seconds passed until his mother revved up the car's engine and sent it spurring out of the garage and onto the streets of New York, the morning sun high and bright in the sky. Around them, magical beasts and normal folk all sidled up to one another, comfortable of being in one another's presence, but also tense, waiting for the worst to arrive creeping from the horizon.

Percy sighed. The Second Titanomachy was a show filled with crap. What _had_ happened so far? The Titans took out Mount Olympus, the source of the gods' powers, and subsequently seized control of the whole of Europe. One would think someone would recover quicker if many nations banded together to stop it.

But no – Ancient Greece had conquered the world, beating the British by mere decades, spreading its influence and its power far and wide, and to every corner of the world. So far as Percy cared to listen to his History classes, only the United States and Australia had some semblance of independence; every other country was littered with the influences from the Greeks.

Percy rested his head against his arm which was pressed against the window set in the door. He watched Midtown whirl by in a flurry of colours, noting the group of satyrs bumbling along close to each other, and the harpies huddled in the corners of streets trying to scavenge lost trinkets and money, and the tree nymphs walking back and forth from their host plants to make sure they group up healthy and nice.

It was the same path they took on their drive to Central Park, except now their destination was going to end a little way ahead. Percy guessed the New York Mayor had wanted the Claiming Offices to be somewhere noticeable and frequently visited so they could tally up as many demigods in the area as they could.

As Percy's mother flicked on the radio and let it hum through the soft tones of Dean Ray's rendition of the depressing song _Stolen Dance_ with Estelle trying to clap along with it, he wondered about why the government was so intent on making sure they could get the exact numbers of demigods right. What was the point? They were arguably more demigods than mortals, anyway.

 _Well, I'm one of the unlucky ones_ , Percy thought strongly. _I'm not a demigod. I've had too much of a crappy life to have a god for a parent or something._

But another voice, soft and soothing which sounded an awful lot like his mother, whispered in Percy's head, _But what if you are?_

Because that was the thing, wasn't it? His life was just a little _too_ crappy. Things seemed to be hastily put together a little _too_ well, like it was almost second-nature to Percy for trying to hide the scratches and cuts and bruises some of his more demonic classmates gave only to see them heal by the time he went home and took a shower and cleaned up.

He'd tried hiding the evidence – well, the evidence of something hiding his evidence. The thing was, Percy never believed The Fates would be that cruel to layer his life with one tragedy upon another.

" _Suspense controlling my mi~i~ind_ ," drawled Dean Ray on the radio. " _I cannot find the way out of here_."

Percy couldn't agree more.

A good fifteen minutes passed until his mother pulled the car along the curb and killed the engine. Everyone made their way out and stood side by side as they stared up at the building in front of them.

The Claiming Offices belonged in the only buildings in New York that were heavily impacted by the Ancient Greeks' infrastructure: sculpted pillars, white marble stairways, small shrubs and slim trees, every single edge of the building lined with gold; up on the roof where large plates of bronze, tilted up towards the sky. Percy read somewhere that it was supposed to harness some of the power the gods gave off – whatever that meant.

It probably meant being able to collect wind to power a city.

Percy's mother gripped tight on Estelle as she gestured for him to follow as they made their way up the steps. They passed the entrance pillars and the glass doors and entered a large hall, with a shiny marble floor and golden walls. Windows were large and were placed up near the ceiling, casting multicoloured rays of light to scatter around the place. Percy could see a set of stairs behind the front desk, where a few people went up. Percy didn't see them come down again.

Those were probably the temporary wards he kept hearing about at school. Once the staff had found a demigod, they'd effectively kidnap them for a day to run more tests to find out their godly heritage. And if they couldn't do it in a day, the demigod would have to come back again, and again, and again.

Maybe that was just rumour, but Percy took everything he heard with barely a pinch of salt.

Percy and his mother walked up to the front desk, where a dryad in a white dress glanced up at them and flashed a smile. Her skin was a warm brown, tinged with green veins around her eyes and the tips of her fingers. Her brown hair was bushy and wild and filled with green leaves, and Percy could see the small round objects nestled within them; olives, he later noticed.

'Hello, loves,' said the olive tree dryad, still smiling up at them. 'How can I help you today?'

'I'm Sally Jackson,' said Percy's mother, readjusting Estelle on her hip slightly. 'I'd like a claiming test for my son, Perseus.'

The dryad's brown eyes widened as she turned her cheerful gaze on Percy. It was so bright that it took a lot in Percy to not recoil from it. But when he looked up again, he tried to smile for the sake of it.

'Oh, lovely,' the dryad said brightly. 'Perseus is a lovely name, in my opinion. How old are you, Perseus? Are you between twelve and twenty-five?'

'I just turned seventeen,' Percy answered lowly.

'Alrighty, love. I'll just place you down in the next available time slot...how does 11:15 sound to you? Lovely? Good!' The dryad tapped something on her computer and waved towards the plush seats lining the walls. 'Please wait there; the Claimer will come and notify you when they're ready.'

Percy quickly strode to the seats, sinking into the soft material. His mother joined him a few seconds later, and they waited quietly. Percy glanced up at the clock hanging above the front desk, and huffed when he saw there was roughly half an hour left of waiting.

Said half hour did not go by swiftly, either. Estelle had started crying halfway through the wait, and the only thing that could calm her was that video of Stymphalian birds going crazy to classic Italian music on their tablet, but they didn't bring said tablet. Not to mention the group of frustratingly loud old women, whose voices, as much as they tried to whisper, echoed loudly around the place.

Percy was rubbing his face in annoyance as he cast a discreet look at the old women sitting beside him. There were three of them, all shrivelled up and frail like prunes with fluffy silver hair and hardened gazes. The three women seemed to be knitting a scarf of sorts; one woman held the blue yarn in her bony fingers, the one in the middle was knitting said scarf, while the third used a pair of shears to snip off loose ends.

The woman in the middle looked up, her cold gaze landing on Percy for a brief moment. Her knitting needles clicked and clacked and then froze, and the woman looked down at the scarf. She poked a bony finger at the small loop that she had accidentally woven into the scarf.

'Oh, dear,' she muttered in that annoyingly loud whisper of hers. The two women on either side of her merely grunted, and the woman with the shears reached forward and snipped the loop into numerous pieces with a loud _SNIKT_.

Percy flinched.

'Perseus Jackson?' called a voice.

Percy's head shot up to see an oread nymph clothed in those typical medical coats walk up to the front desk. Pale skin almost white in the light, her steely blue eyes landed on Percy and she gestured for him to come forth.

Percy glanced at his mother and his crying sister. His mother smiled encouragingly and whispered, 'I'll be right here.'

Swallowing, Percy slowly pushed himself out of his seat and followed the oread into the corridor she came from, her silvery hair flowing behind her as if it were fluttering in a breeze. As Percy went deeper into the corridor, Estelle's cries faded, disappearing completely when he entered the oread's office. She shut the door, directed Percy into a chair and sunk into her own chair behind her desk. She tapped her fingers as she said, 'I'm Claimer Meridian. So, Perseus, you're here to see if you get claimed today?'

'Uh, yeah.' Percy squirmed a little uncomfortably in his seat. 'I don't know if I'm a demigod, though.'

'Oh, that's not a problem. I'll just have to draw a little blood—' Meridian then tapped a small device resembling a printer sitting next to her computer '—and place it in here. We'll find out if you're a demigod in no time. If you are, we'll just conduct a series of tests and determine your heritage' She gave him a warm smile, and Percy bit his lip as he nodded.

Meridian brought out some antibacterial wipes and cleaned the skin on Percy's inner elbow, tapping it gently to find a suitable vein to draw his blood from. Then she tied a band around his bicep, restricting blood flow as she then brought out a syringe. Meridian carefully aligned the tip of the syringe's needle with the vein she found earlier, then gently pressed it into his skin.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut once he felt the needle pierce his skin. The sharp sting of it was enough to have a few tears reflexively prickle the corners of his eyes, but he held back his wince of pain because Meridian was already pulling back, taking the needle out of Percy's arm and wiping it clean off the blood that trailed down from the hole in his skin before quickly pressing a Band-Aid over it.

Flexing his fingers, Percy watched as the nymph deposited the blood into anther vial. She held it up, and Percy could see the scarlet liquid slosh around inside. Meridian then placed a small drop of his blood into the device by her computer. It whined once it picked up something to scan, and hummed quietly as it began to work.

As the device scanned his blood, Meridian asked him simple questions, like if he had any family who were demigods (that was a no), or if he had witnessed anything unusual happening with him (no, totally not anything unusual), or if he was experiencing any external environmental influences (nothing at all, nothing at _all_ ).

In the end, though, Percy knew it was all for nothing anyway.

He'd tried his hardest, but it seemed like the Fates were just toying with him at this point—

The machine beeped, and Meridian pulled up the results on her computer. Her smile was wide as she turned to Percy and clasped her hands around his, like she was congratulating him for something.

'Look at that,' Meridian mused. 'You're as strong and as healthy as your namesake. You're a demigod, Perseus.'

—because, really, the tragedies kept piling up on each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't realised, Britain didn't colonise every single country on Earth in this AU, instead Ancient Greece did it first. Because of that, we get all our mythological creatures in the 21st century.
> 
> So I now I realise that New York actually sounds a lot like the world from Tom Holland and Chris Pratt's "Onward" film, with all the mythical creatures living in harmony and all that in a modern world. So uh. There you go.
> 
> I should...I should go. Tell me what you guys think of this. I hope this is an interesting AU, I don't think I've seen any PJO AUs as intense as this one is probably going to be?? Lol, I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> (now it's time for me to stress about life, ciao--)


	2. Indefinite Hiatus

You know life won't give you a break when you win some awards and then subsequently have your laptop crash and burn.

So. All my files were on my laptop. Every six months I backup my files and store 'em away. The six months isn't up yet; there are only four weeks of school left, and all the files containing plotlines and stories and references are presumably all gone. Everything, from Wattpad and Ao3 to my educational studies and personal projects. I have nothing to go on from at this moment, so it's...yeah, it's rather unfortunate.

I've given my laptop to my school's IT technician, so hopefully he can patch it just long enough for me to back up all of my files and transfer them to a new laptop next year. I probably won't be updating anything until then.

Pray for my laptop, pals, it's too soon for me and my words to drown alone and quietly, haha


End file.
